Burn the Fat

Monday, July 18, 2011

The See-Food, Reach-Food Diet

You’ve heard of the “See-Food” diet haven’t you? No, that’s not the diet where you load up on fish, lobster, crab and mussels. The See-Food Diet is the one that so many of us crack jokes about – it’s the diet where you eat everything in sight! But don’t laugh too hard. Scientists at Cornell University and other research institutions have proven that you actually WILL eat more food if you see food more. In fact, if you can see it and it’s within arm’s reach, you could eat yourself obese within a few years and not even know what hit you because the eating happens unconsciously. It should be common sense that when you’re constantly surrounded by food, you tend to eat more.
But one thing that hasn’t been clear until recently was how seeing food (visibility) and having it within reach (proximity) could influence unconscious eating (and how it influences what I call “eating amnesia”).
Developmental psychologists tell us that the more effort or time you invest in a unique activity, the more likely you’ll be to remember it.
In other words, if you have to go out of your way to get food, you’ll remember eating it. If the food is right there within arms reach, you’ll munch away and more easily forget it.
For years, Dr. Brian Wansink of the Food and Brand Laboratory at Cornell University has been conducting fascinating experiments to find out what really makes you eat more food than you need.
Some of his previous studies revealed that taste, palatability, mood, stress, social context, role models (parental influence), visual cues, visibility and convenience can all influence how much you eat (Eating behavior is environmentally and psychologically influenced – appetite is not just biological).
To explore the influence of food proximity and visibility on eating behavior, Wansink set up an experiment using 40 female staff members from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain. The subjects were not told it was a weight loss or calorie-related study. They were told that they would be given a free candy dish filled with chocolates (candy “kisses”) and they’d be contacted and surveyed about their candy preferences. They were also told not to share the candies, take them home or move the dish.
Participants were divided into four groups:
1) Proximate and visible (can see and reach)
2) Proximate and non-visible (can reach but not see)
3) Less proximate and visible (can see but can’t reach)
4) Less proximate and non visible (can’t see, and can’t reach)
During each day of the four week study, 30 chocolates were placed in 20 clear containers and 20 opaque containers and delivered to the 40 subjects. The containers were replenished every afternoon. They were kept in the same location for 4 straight business days and then rotated on the following week. Researchers kept a daily record of the number of chocolates eaten from each container and comparisons were made from the data collected.
At the end of each week, each subject was given a questionnaire which asked them how much they thought they had eaten over the entire week and asked them about their perceptions regarding the chocolates (such as “it was difficult to stop eating them,” “I thought of eating the chocolates often,” etc).
When the results were tabulated, here’s what Dr. Wansink and his research team discovered:
The visibility and proximity of the candy dish also influenced the subject’s perceptions. Regardless of whether participants could actually see the chocolates, if the candies were sitting on the desk (as opposed to being a mere 2 meters away), they were rated as more attention-attracting and difficult to resist. Candies in the clear containers were also rated as more difficult to resist and more attention attracting.
Most interesting of all, this study confirmed that when food is close by and visible, you’ll not only eat more, you’ll also be likely to forget that you ate them and therefore, underestimate how much you’ve eaten (I like to call that “eating amnesia.”) Is a few extra candies a day really a big deal?
If it becomes habitual it sure is! Over a year, the difference between the candy dish placement would mean 125 calories per day which adds up to 12 extra pounds of body fat over a year.
When given the advice to keep junk food out of the house and office, I often hear complaints that it’s “impossible” to do because the rest of the family would have a fit, or simply not allow it. As for the office, one of the biggest excuses I’ve heard for diet failure is that the temptations are always there and it’s out of your control to change. Invariably someone else brings doughnuts or candy to the office.Now you know what to do to reduce temptation and successfully stick with your program more effectively:
If you can’t keep it out of your office or house, keep it out of sight and out of arm’s reach. That alone is enough to reduce consumption.
At home, if your significant other or family is not willing to remove all offending foods from the premises, then get their agreement that their food is not to remain in plain sight - it goes in the back of a refrigerator drawer and not on the shelf at eye level, or if non-perishable, it goes inside a cupboard that is exclusively the domain of the other person.
At work, tell your office pals to keep the candy, doughnuts and other temptations off your desk, at a distance and out of sight. If they put any unhealthy snacks on your desk, promptly remove them!
Environmental cues can trigger you to eat impulsively. If you can see it and reach it, you’ll eat more of it, and you’ll forget how much you ate. So get the junk out of your home and office now and if you can’t, then get it out of your sight. If you can’t do that, get it out of arms reach.
Better yet, setup an "environment for success" with a lifestyle program like my Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle system.

What No One Is Telling You About Calories In VS Calories Out

I'm going to share with you the most crucial weight loss strategy that will literally make or break your success. This is the number one fat loss tip I could ever give you. If you don't get this right, you can kiss your fat loss results goodbye. This is the one absolute requirement for weight loss, and it’s something you’ve probably heard of before. However, there’s one critical distinction about this familiar advice that you might not have considered - and this one thing makes all the difference in the world…
Let me quote Melvin Williams, PhD, professor emeritus of exercise science at Old Dominion University and author of the textbook Nutrition for Health, Fitness and Sport (McGraw Hill): “Human energy systems are governed by the same laws of physics that rule all energy transformations. No substantial evidence is available to disprove the caloric theory. It is still the physical basis for bodyweight control.”
There are a variety of diet programs and weight loss “gurus” who claim that calories don’t count. They insist that if you eat certain foods or avoid certain foods, that’s all you have to do to lose weight. Dozens, maybe hundreds of such diets exist, with certain “magic foods” put up on a pedestal or certain “evil fat-storing foods" banished into the forbidden foods zone.
Other weight loss “experts” invoke the insulin/carbohydrate hypothesis which claims that carbs drive insulin which drives body fat. That’s akin to saying “Carbs are the reason for the obesity crisis today, not excess calories.”
They are all mistaken.
Of course, there IS more to nutrition than calories in vs calories out. Food quality and nutrition content matters for good health. In addition, your food choices can affect your energy intake. We could even point the finger at an excess of refined starches and grains, sugar and soft drinks (carbs!) as major contributing factors to the surplus calories that lead to obesity.
However, that brings us back to excess calories as the pivotal point in the chain of causation, not carbs. A caloric deficit is a required condition for weight loss - even if you opt for the low carb approach - and that’s where your focus should go – on the deficit.
Now, here’s that critical distinction…
You’ve heard it said, “exercise more and eat less” a million times. However, saying “focus on the calorie deficit” is NOT the same thing. If you don’t understand the difference, you could end up spinning your wheels for years.
You could exercise more, but if you compensate by eating more, you cancel your deficit.
You could eat less, but if you compensate by moving less, again you cancel your deficit.
This type of compensation can happen unconsciously, which leads to confusion about why you’re not losing weight or why you’re gaining. That often leads you to make excuses or blame the wrong thing… anything but the calories.
Therefore, “focus on the calorie deficit” more accurately states the most important key to weight loss than “exercise more and eat less.” Make sure you understand this distinction and then follow this advice.
Last but not least, keep in mind that there are a lot of ways to establish a deficit and many of those ways are really dumb. Eating nothing but grapefruits, cabbage, twinkies… but in a deficit?… Dumb!
The bottom line is that a calorie deficit is required for fat loss, but once your deficit is established, the composition of your hypo-caloric diet DOES matter. That’s why any good fat loss program starts with "calories in vs calories out" but doesn’t stop there - you also need to look at protein, essential fats, macronutrients, micronutrients, food quality and how the diet you choose fits into your lifestyle. This is the pivotal strategy that my entire Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle systemhinges upon.
Don’t let the simplicity of this idea fool you. This is the #1 key to your successful weight loss now and in the future: Focus on the deficit!
Train hard and expect success,

Burn The Fat

Fat Blocker Drugs (Xenical) to review the counter? Are you kidding? Dear Friend,

This week, instead of responding to one of the thousands of fat loss questions I receive every week, I felt compelled, not only, but a moral obligation to comment (rant) about what you really think about the "blocking fat 'is drug Xenical over the counter (OTC) (and diet drugs in general).

According to the headlines this week, Xenical may become the first on the diet pill without prescription.

Xenical is a prescription drug is currently only approved by the FDA for weight loss, which works by blunting fat absorption by blocking the digestive enzyme lipase.

The prescription version of Xenical blocks the fat pill made by Roche was originally approved in 1999. A year ago, GlaxoSmithKline bought rights to the United States of Roche's Xenical

On 24 January, federal health advisers voted 11-3 to recommend approval of over-the-counter sales of a version (a lower dose) of Xenical, after hearing all day.

GlaxoSmithKline expected before the end of the year, this litte blue fat blocking pill will be available at your local pharmacy without a prescription.

If the FDA gives final approval, which could take months, the over-the-counter version, called Alli (pronounced "ally")

What is Xenical (Alli), and what does it do?

Generally, the weight loss drugs are designed to curb your appetite. Xenical is something totally different: It prevents some of the fat you eat from being absorbed - it simply passes through your digestive system.

Oh, forget political correctness ... sh ** can be pants! (Still excited about this "wonder pill?")

An appetite suppressant or a thermogenic is not a long term solution to obesity either, but could at least have some value in certain circumstances, when the delivery cost of risk is acceptable.

Xenical on the other side? This drug is just stupid and so is the idea of ​​what is over the counter.

The truth is, if you are really thinking long term, especially if they are suffering from morbid obesity, and ... the necessity of last resort, then

Take a pill - any pill - weight loss is down right STUPID.

The drugs do not "cure" diseases. Medicine can not cure. Drug hide. Just because you sweep the dirt under the rug does not mean your house is still very dirty.

A medicine can only temporarily alleviate symptoms. Key word: temporarily.

Did you ever consider for a moment that body fat is a symptom?

A symptom of inactivity. A symptom of poor nutrition. A symptom of the accumulation of poor lifestyle.

Drug use is like cutting the leaves of weeds to try to keep weeds from your garden, but the only way to keep weeds from your garden is to get them in the bud!

In addition, all drugs - including prescription medicines - side effects - side effects may be very serious. That does not mean that you should never take any medication. This means that you should consider the risk-benefit ratio of drugs taken before making a decision.

When you combine a nutritional support program that feeds and maintains healthy muscles, consisting of natural foods, unprocessed, with an exercise program for life that burns fat, then you have a long-term health . This is the only true way to remove weeds out obesity by the roots.

Making this medicine without a prescription is a big mistake. Why?

Well, first, if it is counter, you can encourage people to start to become fat phobia again.

It went through a decade of low-fat diets and ... and then go through another decade of low carb diets?

Are we now going to go through another phase of the fat phobia? A balance of macronutrients is not ideal, eliminating a food group, either fat or carbs or whatever. Think of the balance!

Dietary fat does not make you fat, and most people are sadly lacking good fats, healthy essential as those found in fish, fish oil and flax. Fat blocker use will lead to lower absorption of good fatty acids so necessary for good health.

Second, this drug also has great potential without a police presence misuse and abuse if you are on the counter.

Jim Foster, the excellent www.diet-blog. com site says: "This will not help those who already have problems with abuse of laxatives A number of groups is concerned, will be used as medicinal -.. bulimia binge on encouraging young people"

In his blog article, 'Xenical Over The Counter: big mistake? "Foster continues ..

"In the MSNBC site, there is an overwhelming vote of confidence for the drug. Of the more than 132,000 votes 59% say they try, because" ... I can not lose those last 10 pounds. "Of course, these results are very skewed as the people reading this article are those with an interest in drugs. Still, these results are worrying. I firmly believe that a drug like this should be prescribed by a doctor. This movement simply enforce the quick fix. Xenical mentality is already guilty of a series of aggravating ads in Canada -. attempt to attach the drug glamor "

Third Xenical and Alli, if approved, may encourage people to eat more fat, refined sugar junk foods instead of less, as they may be thinking of it not even be absorbed.

Fourth, another issue is that intake of fat soluble vitamins that go right you know what, along with the fat. Doctors usually recommend a multivitamin supplement in patients taking Xenical for this reason.

You know what I think? I think this is the greed of pharmaceutical companies, plain and simple pandering directly to the "something for nothing" attitude that pervades our society.

It is also a desperate attempt to revive a bad loser drug that many people have taken a step in recharge due to unwanted side effects and ineffectiveness in the long term.

If a doctor told you had diabetes or high blood pressure or high cholesterol ... or suffering from depression, what would your answer be?

I'm not sure that I'm, but most people, especially Americans, immediately say, 'OK what medicine should I take? "And the doctor rushed to prescribe.

Many doctors and health professionals consider obesity as a disease the world's largest, and they say it should be treated as such.

The truth is that obesity is one of the world's largest companies and is being treated as such!

Weight loss is potentially the biggest market on earth for the sale of drugs, and the stakes could hardly be greater.

Glaxo estimated that 5 to 6 million Americans a year to buy the drug if offered over the counter. Those numbers could mean at least $ 1.5 billion annually in retail sales.

Glaxo also says that Alli would cost $ 12 to $ 25 per week. Sounds like a hundred dollars a month down the toilet (literally!) If you ask me.

But what about research? Clinical trials showed that patients taking Xenical lost an average of 5. 3 to 6.2 kilos more than the weight that the group took a placebo.

In clinical trials, 6 months for the project over the counter drugs, patients with Alli lost 4 to 5 pounds more than the group taking a placebo

What do I think about that?

Perhaps the women ate less fat, because of fears that eating feces fat = leakage. In a website, a patient responding to a survey, said, "The drug forced me to avoid fatty foods if I wanted to keep my clean underwear. I lost a lot weight. (Nice)

Perhaps some of the issues considered in the studies was not working so he left school. Studies of the diet drugs have high drop rates, so the rest of the people were the ones who got the best results.

Perhaps if the control group and the placebo group were placed on the same caloric intake, the group taking Xenical lost more weight, simply because fewer fat calories in the diet is absorbed!

Do you think if they were not in a controlled study in which food intake is controlled, you really control your drinking, or you would be more likely to eat plenty of oily waste and who thought their body absorb it?

Translation: the study results are partial, biased and misleading

The end result?

My advice to all our doctors good doctors out there: start exercise prescription and sensible eating first, and drugs as a last resort. Failure to fatten the wallets of the pharmaceutical companies.

My advice to legislators and government agencies involved: You are making a big mistake to take this drug without prescription. Keep prescription only, at least doctors can monitor and "police" use and not abused adolescents and people with only 30.10 pounds to lose do not really need it.

My advice to all who want to become healthier and thinner:

"Burn the fat feed the muscle." Have your Mantra!

You have to exercise (BURN) and you have to eat (FEED). If you do these two things at the time, even if the pharmaceutical giants are on a pill is really safe and actually works, you can save your money do not need it!